Order of Fire
The Order of Fire is the extreme fundamentalist religion of the Sha'Ahoul, the hunter-gatherer peoples of the Steppes. It is a form of Animism in that it believes the natural world, as it is, is embodied by spiritual entities known as the Lord Sky and the Lady Fire. Thusly, the Order of Fire rejects many of the gifts of civilization, such as architecture, engineering, agriculture, smelting, masonry, fermentation, and so on. In short, any attempt to transmogrify any natural material or landscape to some practical purpose is seen as anathema. Since it is clearly impossible for a living organism to survive without having some sort of impact on the world around them, there must exist some sort of threshold of acceptible manipulation of nature, but this measure of what is permissible tends to vary based on the view of the individual. The Order is not organized in the same sense that a clergical hierchy would be. In stead, it is ingrained in the fundamental culture of the Sha'Ahoul people, and is expressed in regular exchange and custom. Many Ahoul frequently engage in discussion regarding the nature of their beliefs, but do not see it as any sort of phenomenon. In stead, they regard their culture and system of belief as being the natural way of all things, with all other perspectives being perverse, decadent, and adverserial. Indeed, the title 'Order of Fire' is merely an artifact bestowed upon the Sha'Ahoul belief system by Fornaxian scholars. The Ahoul language has many terms for 'fire' as fire is thought to be the will of the Lord and Lady made manifest upon the world. Thusly, all things can be said to contain fire, and as a result many common phrases and sayings in Sha'Ahoul culture incorporate the term, and thus, so does their religion. For example, the phrase "Burn brightly" is a common phrase said when departing another's company. It is meant that the subject should seek to impersonate the Lord and Lady in all things, and in doing so become more a part of the world. Unsurprisingly, the Order of Fire demands that the dead be cremated. Because the Order lacks formal institutions such as temples or monastaries, the faithful are persistently wary of encroachments on their areas of influence and foreign influences on the adherents of their way. Faithful individually pursue the furtherment of the faith by persistently approaching adherents with philosophical quandries regarding the nature of the Lord and Lady. The most frequent issue they face is slippage of the aforementioned threshold of tolerance for perversions of the natural world. Some Ahoul, for example, are known to use steel armour they have taken from the bodies of fallen enemies from Eurale. While they acknowledge that the nations of Eurale are cowardly and totally reject the ways of the Lord and Lady, they insist that this is no reason why something useful cannot be procured from victory, particularly if it can help secure further victory against the enemies of the Order. Many are wary of this, and other quandries such as the harvesting of crops from Eurale farms, and dwelling in their overrun towns. Never the less, the faithful must decide for themselves the right path and what is the correct path to lead to the greater good. Domains of Influence Air - The Lord Sky is embodied in the air we breathe and the wind upon grass. Untetherable, he is the wild bull, the fearless badger, the savage blood. His will is eternal and to wield his fury is to be as a God. Animal - Blessed are the beasts of the world, for they are not tainted with the choice of blasphemy and decadence. Theirs is only to live in the spleandour of the Lord and Lady, forever embraced by their patronage and purity of essence. It is only we, the men who walk upon two legs, who are cursed with temptation. Fire - The breath of the Lady Fire purifies all it touches. It beats our hearts, and flows through our lifeblood. It is in all things, eagerly waiting her call. Plant - Reclaimers and menders of the world, they bring flesh to our mouths, and wholeness back to the land in a way no other thing can. They surpass us, surpass even the beasts that feed upon them, for they are virulant. The hands of the Lord and Lady stretching across all the world. War - Life is bought in blood, and so it is with the way. Blood must be spent to eat. Blood must be spent to live. And so blood must be spent to defend the Lord and Lady's paradise from the hands of corruption.